More than 100 patients in critical need of a kidney transplant will be transferred from Kaiser Permanente’s troubled transplant program to other regional hospitals by next week, state and Kaiser officials said Thursday.

Some 141 patients who are at the top of the waiting list or who have matched living donors will be transferred to the University of California, San Francisco or the University of California, Davis, said Cindy Ehnes, director of the California Department of Managed Health Care.

The move is the first phase in what is expected to be an ongoing and complex process of transferring 2,000 Kaiser Permanente patients to the other two hospitals for treatment.

The Northern California Kaiser kidney transplant program is shutting its doors amid federal and state investigations into bungled paperwork that delayed kidney transplants for perhaps hundreds of patients.

In 2004, Kaiser launched its own kidney transplant center and required about 1,500 members awaiting transplants at UCSF and UC Davis to switch to the new program.

Kaiser mishandled the transfer process and patients found themselves in limbo or lost in the shuffle, resulting in higher death rates than other California transplant programs, the Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month.

Ehnes, whose department is overseeing the transfer and has been investigating Kaiser’s kidney transplant program since mid-March, said the goal is to make the transition back to the UC hospitals as smooth as possible.

“When these patients are transferred, they will not lose any time they’ve spent on the wait list,” Ehnes told reporters in a conference call.

The state has named Allison Kregness to the position of kidney health advocate to oversee the transfer process, Ehnes said.

Kregness is a registered nurse specializing in kidney transplants and executive director of theTransPacific Renal Network 17 in San Rafael. The nonprofit is one of 18 Medicare-funded watchdog groups nationwide established to help patients suffering from end-stage renal failure get adequate health care.

Her job is to make sure the welfare of patients comes first during the process of transferring and that no one falls through the cracks, Ehnes said.

Kaiser officials said letters were mailed to members in the transplant program to inform them that they would soon be receiving care at UCSF or UC Davis, depending on patient preference.

The HMO set up a hot line for transplant patients and their families, and it has received about 330 calls since May 12. Members reported receiving inadequate help through the hot line, and, with urging by the state, Kaiser officials said they have added staff and will make sure patients would get calls returned within 48 hours.

Of those patients first to be transferred to UCSF or UC Davis for care, 94 have end-stage renal failure and have already undergone final work-ups necessary before receiving a kidney. Although they will have to be reevaluated at UCSF or UC Davis, they will not lose their place in line, Ehnes said.

The other 47 patients to be transferred next week have found matched living kidney donors and have also been through the requisite tests required before a transplant can be performed, Ehnes said.

Kaiser will continue to perform transplants for those patients at the top of the list until the transfer to the other hospitals is complete, said Mary Ann Thode, president of the Northern California Kaiser Foundation Health Plan.

National waiting lists for organ transplants are managed by the United Network for Organ Sharing. Wait times can depend on regional availability.

State and federal investigations into Kaisers troubled kidney transplant program are still ongoing, as is Kaisers own internal investigation.